Employment Suits Start to Bounce Back After Lags Caused by Pandemic

It was a predictable result of the COVID-19 pandemic—by May 2020, new employment lawsuits in federal courts started to majorly fall off. However, by the end of the year and carrying into the first quarter of 2021, employment lawsuits began to rebound, marking just one more indicator of an economy that is beginning to wake back up.

Not only are there more cases being filed (particularly related to COVID issues), but there are also more sophisticated complaints coming through. This trend is expected to continue throughout the rest of the year.

Looking at the statistics

There were 2,282 total cases filed during November and 2,202 in December. That month of November marked the most employment cases filed in any month in the last three years, likely due to a need to catch up after months of down time and delays.

There were 696 pandemic-related employment cases filed in 2020 in federal courts. Just three percent of the nearly 20,000 total employment cases that were filed. Of pandemic-related suits followed, nearly 75 percent involved retaliation claims against employers, and 41 percent involved either employer discrimination or Family and Medical Leave Act violations. The busiest federal court was the Southern District of New York.

Wrongful termination and retaliation claims against the federal government related to the pandemic continue to increase in prevalence throughout the United States. If you believe your employer is guilty of wrongdoing associated with the way they’ve handled the pandemic, contact an experienced whistleblower attorney at Kardell Law Group for guidance about how to handle your claim.